In Family Court, Justice Is Gender-Blind

Published: April 30, 1995

To the Editor:

Just this morning I completed a decision in which I awarded custody of a 5-year-old child to the father after a hotly contested custody battle. I then happened to read "Divorced Fathers Make Gains in Battles to Increase Rights" (front page, April 26), in which Sanford N. Katz, a Boston College family law professor, is quoted as follows: "But it is still going to take a generation of judges who are brought up by or married to career women to understand the realities of work and child rearing."

First, perhaps it's equally important to educate family law professors so that they are aware there are female judges who sit on various benches in this country and make critical decisions on custody matters, and who fully experience the realities of work and child rearing.

Second, not all fathers have been divorced. In a case I just decided, I awarded custody of an out-of-wedlock child to an adjudicated legal father. Third, the law is gender-blind. It is the sworn obligation of all judges, male or female, to make decisions as to the fitness of the parents and the best interests of the children. STELLA SCHINDLER Judge, New York State Family Court Jamaica, Queens, April 26, 1995